Peter Grant and John Hughes eras result in relegation through the play-offs to League One

After having lost out on the play- offs due to the COVID pandemic truncating his first season, manager Stevie Crawford had scraped The Pars into the 2020/21 play off, where they fell at the first hurdle, to Raith Rovers. This brought about his resignation. The board`s choice for replacement was baffling - Peter Grant.

His first season as a manager with Norwich City had started well in October 2006, but ended with them fighting relegation. A poor start to the following season led to his resignation in October 2007. Apart from a short spell as caretaker manager of Fulham, his only other managerial position was with Alloa from July 2019 on a two year contract which was not renewed after they were relegated in May 2021.

Players departing from the previous season squad were:- Euan Murray, Kyle Turner, Fraser Murray, Declan McManus, Cammy Gill, Matty Bowman, Lewis Mayo, Scott Banks and Ewan Henderson, Stephen Whittaker had moved to a coaching role. A big intake of newcomers included Deniz Mehmet, Aaron Comrie, Nickolay Todorov, Dan Pybus, Miller Fenton, Leon Jones, Graham Dorrans and, on loan Ross Graham and Kai Kennedy. The club was now effectively owned by a German consortium, who were committed to establishing a flourishing academy in Dunfermline.

The League Cup was in sectional format and The Pars fellow section members were Partick Thistle, St. Mirren, Dumbarton and Stenhousemuir. Things got off to a great start with a 4-2 win at Firhill. Debutants Aaron Comrie and Nickolay Todorov with two were both on the score sheet. Another away game followed with a 1-0 loss to St.Mirren in Paisley but things picked up again when Dumbarton were thrashed 5-1 at East End Park. The final game, also at East End, finished 4-1 against Stenhousemuir and qualification to next round achieved. July finished with a good away draw 2-2 at Cappielow to start the League campaign.

August was to prove a nightmare, beginning with a 3-0 defeat at home to Partick Thistle. Rangers put paid to any League Cup ambitions by handing out a 5-0 mauling at Ibrox. Arbroath finished things off by winning 3-0 at East End Park. September began with a trip to Ayr and a 3-1 defeat. Club stalwart Stuart Arnott sadly died. The situation steadied a bit with a 0-0 draw at home to Inverness Caley Thistle which was duplicated the following week at home to Hamilton Accies. Mark Connolly was brought in on loan.The month`s fixtures were completed with a 1-1 draw at Starks Park. The standard of football had been very poor and the fans were openly protesting.

October`s first match was away to Queen of the South and ended in defeat 1-0 but a 2-2 draw at home to table topping Kilmarnock was a good result. Two more draws followed 0-0 away to Partick Thistle and 1-1 at home to Raith Rovers.The month ended on a low when Arbroath won 4-2 at Gayfield. That was it for Peter Grant. He departed the scene with not one win in his 12 League games and five defeats, leaving the club bottom of the table. Greg Shields took over in a caretaker role.

November brought Morton to East End Park, where they inflicted another defeat, this time 2-1. On Friday 12th November, John Hughes was announced as the new manager and the following day he watched his new charges win 2-1 in Inverness. A big East End reception for Yogi was rewarded with a 3-0 win against Ayr United but the following week, Dunfermline slipped out of the Scottish Cup after losing 1-0 at Firhill.

December kicked off with yet another defeat, this time away to Hamilton and when a 3-3 East End Park draw with Allan Johnston`s Queen of the South was followed by a 3-0 drubbing at home to Arbroath, the fans were disillusioned and frustrated after an awful first half to the season. Could a new year bring a change in fortune and some football that was not painful to watch?

January was to be a strange month. It began with a 0-0 draw at Starks Park, descended into farce with a 5-0 slaughter from Morton at Cappielow but picked up when Ryan Dow scored to beat Hamilton 1-0 at East End Park. It was loan signing Andy Lawless who scored the goal which earned a home draw with Inverness Caley Thistle, then joy of joys an away win, 2-0 at Palmerston to climb above them and off the bottom spot.

A flurry of signings before the transfer window closed, saw Rhys Breen and Joe Chalmers arrive along with loan signings Jakub Stolarczyk from Leicester City, Coll Donaldson, Bobby Kamwa, Efe Ambrose and Liam Polworth. David Cook was installed as CEO.

February began with a 1-1 draw at Somerset Park and The Pars were unlucky to lose 2-1 away to Kilmarnock. Two weeks later, the month`s fixtures were completed when Killie returned to East End Park and were held 0-0. Surprise table toppers, Dick Campbell`s part timers Arbroath, continued their run by beating Athletic 1-0 at Gayfield as March rolled in. Hamilton Accies were next and a 2-2 draw at New Douglas Park. Morton were the first visitors of the month at East End Park and they escaped with a 1-1 draw. The dropped points had seen Dunfermline fall back to the bottom, so it was a pleasant surprise when Partick Thistle were well beaten in the next game, 4-1 at East End. It could not be sustained, however and the month ended back down in the dumps, beaten 2-0 in Inverness.

There were to be five games in April, before the season was due to finish, and it started really well when Raith Rovers were beaten 2-0 at East End Park, both goals scored by Kevin O`Hara. Kilmarnock next, inflicted a 2-0 defeat at Rugby Park. When the following game, also at home, resulted in a 2-1 win, against Ayr United, the Pars had climbed above them and out of the relegation play-off spot. Fans began to believe but were to be disappointed the following week when they lost a tight game 1-0 at Firhill. Bottom of the table Queen of the South were the final fixture of the League season, surely a chance to attack the opposition and, hopefully, escape. A quite woeful negative display ended in a 2-1 capitulation.

May would determine the Pars fate. They held all the aces, as the Championship side. They would play the lowest placed qualifier from Division 1 and had the advantage of playing the second leg at home. Queens Park were the opposition and with a 0-0 draw in the first leg, everything was set for The Pars to seize their opportunity and go out and win at home. Did they? No. In an embarrassing, negative and cowardly performance, they barely laid a glove on their opponents and managed to lose by the only goal of the game.

John Hughes could not continue. Did he resign or was he sacked? There was much conjecture about this and about timings but only a few really know and that is right.

Top for appearances was Josh Edwards with 43, well ahead of second placed Aaron Comrie. Top goal scorer was Kevin O`Hara with 9.